More than eight years after Greece exited the bailout programs and despite the return of the economy to positive growth rates, wages continue to lag well behind European standards. Government responsibility is evident, as the reality on the ground contradicts the official narrative of broad-based recovery.
According to the 2025 interim report of the Labor Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), the economic rebound has not translated into a comparable rise in prosperity. Greece’s per capita GDP in purchasing power standards (PPS) rose from 65.5% of the EU average in 2019 to just 68.5% in 2024—an improvement of only three percentage points, compared with an 11-point gain in Bulgaria over the same period.
The data point to a pattern of structural divergence, where increases in output and GDP fail to result in higher wages or improved living conditions for workers.
The gap in prosperity between Greece and the EU remains stark. In real terms, per capita GDP stood at 17,210 euros in Greece in 2019, compared with 32,270 euros across the EU. By 2024, the difference still hovered around 14,600 euros. Despite the post-2021 recovery, the distance from the European average has not narrowed, underscoring the weak convergence dynamics.
In comparative terms, Greece trails most Eastern European countries. Its PPS level remains well below those of the Czech Republic (90.6%), Lithuania (87.5%), Estonia (79.0%) and Poland (78.4%), and is broadly on par only with Latvia (68.4%). Romania, at 77%, is clearly ahead, leaving Greece above only Bulgaria (65.9%).
Wage disparities are even more pronounced. In 2009, the average annual wage in Greece, adjusted for PPS, stood at 91.8% of the EU average. By 2019, this ratio had fallen to 61.2%, and in 2024 it declined further to 59.1%, despite nominal increases. The average hourly wage in Greece reached just 11.3 PPS in 2024, compared with 15.3 in Central and Eastern Europe and over 20 in the EU periphery.
Underpayment is widespread across sectors, including industry and services, even in areas where Greece has high employment concentration, such as retail, tourism and hospitality.
Meanwhile, from April 1 the minimum wage is set to rise again—the fifth increase to date. The government has pledged to lift the minimum wage to 950 euros over the current four-year term, a target that could be exceeded by 2027. Whether this will narrow Greece’s deep-rooted wage gap with Europe remains an open question.
Η Σονάτα του Σεληνόφωτος, ο σκηνικός μονόλογος του μεγάλου ποιητή Γιάννη Ρίτσου, θα παρουσιαστεί για μία μοναδική βραδιά τη Δευτέρα 2 Φεβρουαρίου στο θέατρο Ολύμπια «Μαρία Κάλλας».
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